Film review: Keepers of the Flame

Diarmaid Ferriter sifts through the stories of people who felt abandonedJUSTIN FARRELLY

The Sunday Times, December 16 2018, 12:01am

Nuala O’Connor’s debut feature documentary is a fascinating dive into the archive of Irish military service pensions.

About 85,000 people applied for such a pension, based on service during the revolutionary period from Easter 1916 to the end of the Irish Civil War, but only 18,000 were granted. The application letters in the archive are full of principled stances and wounded egos.

Historian Diarmaid Ferriter sifts through the stories of people who felt abandoned by the Irish state. Seán Treacy fired the first shot of the War of Independence in 1919, and was killed the following year. His mother received what she considered a paltry £100, and returned it. “Had my son lived, he would not have allowed his mother to be insulted,” she said.

Want to read more?

Subscribe now and get unlimited digital access on web and our smartphone and tablet apps, free for your first month.